New Zealand is reeling from a 6.3-magnitude earthquake that rocked the country’s second-largest city on Tuesday, leaving at least 65 dead. “We may well be witnessing New Zealand’s darkest day,” said Prime Minister John Key, speaking from the city of Christchurch, near the epicentre of the quake. It was the second time in roughly six months that the city was rattled by tremors, after a 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck the area in early September, leaving two seriously injured but no fatalities.

David Wethey/NZPA/AP

The Tuesday quake, though, proved far more devastating, hitting at lunchtime when streets and offices were at their busiest. It wrecked the facade of Christchurch’s iconic cathedral, and reduced several buildings to rubble, leaving over 100 residents trapped, according to the city’s mayor, Bob Parker. Some 120 miles east of the city, the tremors also shook off 30 million tons of ice from one of New Zealand’s largest glaciers. The earthquake sent ripples through the financial markets as well, with the New Zealand dollar, known as the kiwi, plunging to its lowest level in almost two months. And economists warned that the damage and disruption caused by the quake are likely to slow down the country’s economy.

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Patricia Treble is the royal specialist at Maclean’s. In addition to her interest in all things monarchical—from the Queen's constitutional role to Kate's flyaway hems—she writes on everything from TV, books and celebrity culture to history and sports trends.

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A nation faces its ‘darkest day’

According to Wikipedia who References "Subnational population estimates at 30 June 2010 (boundaries at 1 November 2010)". Statistics New Zealand. 26 October 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2010.
1Auckland1,354,900
2Christchurch390,300
3Wellington389,700

Any country that's hit by this magnitude will surely suffer. I can't imagine the damage when that happens in Vancouver. A large subduction earthquake has been forcasted to hit here. With mountains ringing/ blocking immediate help and buildings that may not withstand such devastating type of earthquake, the damage will be unimaginable.

No one disputes the severity of the situation nor that it is a tragedy. However it seams to have gotten lost in the news cycle to the uprisings in the Mid-East.
Is it because New Zealand is distant to us or is it because it's too real to us to see a nation developed similarly to our own has been devastated by a rare but possible event that could happen here?

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